Born November 8th, 1962
Died October 6th, 2023
Island activist Christy Henry, who has died, always insisted his native place, Inis Bigil (Inishbiggle), Co Mayo, be referred to as Gaeilge. It was his forebears’ first language and he was a stalwart of the unique history and heritage of this little inshore island, which sits squat between Achill and the vast bog lands of Erris.
Bigil’s colonisation by Rev Edward Nangle’s evangelical Achill Mission in the mid-1800s meant it was the only Irish island to have an Irish-speaking Protestant population and an Anglican church.
It was Christy’s grandfather James who defied threats of eviction by the mission’s trustees in 1912 and offered the priest an old cottage as a school and venue for Mass, thus ensuring the education and continued practice of their religion for the Catholic population.
After the Department of Education built a school in 1947, Christy’s father, Paddy, would teach in the island national school for a time, having been educated on foot of a scholarship to St Kevin’s in Dublin and later trained at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.
Like his father before him, Christy was among the few islanders who were sent away to boarding school for his second-level education. Indeed, his first big trip away from home was to St Enda’s in Salthill, Galway, in his older brother PJ’s Austin 1100. Aged 14 in 1976, his parents, Paddy and “Baby” (Bridget) accompanied him also, full of hope for their bright and precocious youngest son.
The fact that he was a ciotóg and a little dyslexic never impeded his “verbal fluidity”, as one old friend observed.
Even though he made some lifelong friends at St Enda’s, excelling in sport, he always hankered for home. He was happiest out fishing in the curragh, picking shellfish on the shore or, when he was older, heading across the dangerous sea-channel to Achill Island for a few pints and company.
Like so many fellow islanders along the west coast, he took the boat and later the plane from Knock to England during the 1980s and early 1990s, where his older siblings had already settled. But the lure of home always beckoned and, after working on the buildings in London and Nottingham, he settled back with his parents for good.
By all accounts, he would cajole, argue and sometimes shout at politicians, clergy and department officials in a quest to get a better deal for Bigil
At the time his father was in the throes of leading a protracted – but ultimately doomed – campaign for a cable car service for the island. Feasibility studies had concluded that due to treacherous currents such a link to Bullsmouth in Achill was the preferred and safest option, at a cost of £2 million. The closure of the national school in 1989 had left the future viability of the island at a critical stage and the cable car service would have allowed children of school-going age to commute daily to Achill.
When Henry was born in 1962 there were 113 residents on the island but by the turn of the millennium that number had dropped to 43. Today there are about 16 full-time residents.
After his father died in 2010, aged 90, Christy would take up this mantle and lead the community council with a variety of colourful battle-cries.
By all accounts, he would cajole, argue and sometimes shout at politicians, clergy and department officials in a quest to get a better deal for Bigil.
There was no such shouting when he was ensuring the dignity and care of his parents in their final years. Indeed, his innate compassion was evident also in his care for all animals. He had left instructions with his brother PJ that in the event of his death his donkey and horse would be given to a certain loving Achill family.
Féile Bigil was an uplifting injection for the depleted morale of this ageing community
No surprise that in the days after his untimely death, his long-time friend, and occasional foe, Jeremy Holt encapsulated him as Mr Inis Bigil. Holt recalled how for 30 years he had co-ordinated the three-day annual Féile Bigil, held over the August bank holiday weekend. It was an uplifting injection for the depleted morale of this ageing community, with hundreds of the island’s diaspora and friends returning for a carnival including everything from curragh racing to carousing.
Days before this year’s festival, Rev Suzanne Cousins, the newly appointed rector of the parish of Aughval, which includes Bigil, made her first visit to the island’s Holy Trinity Church. In a historic development, it had been rededicated for ecumenical use in 2000, with Christy and his father overseeing necessary renovations.
After holding a service she was examining the extent of necessary upgrade works when she put her foot through a rotting floorboard. Before she had regained her balance Henry was on his knees on the floor examining the extent of possible dry rot underneath and how to resolve it.
Christy liked to tell the folktale of An Táilliúir Gorm, the first man on Inis Bigil, a spailpín whose exploits in far away places were legendary. The loss of a man whose pride in his native island had no bounds will now be added to Inis Bigil’s rich cultural canon.
Christy Henry was predeceased by his parents, Paddy and Baby, and his brother James. He is survived by his sister, Mary, his brother PJ, his sisters-in-law Patricia and Fran and their families.